The Farr Side: Taylor Swift: The evolution continues

Thursday

Taylor Swift might be the biggest pop star on the planet. Everyone is talking about her and the release of her highly anticipated seventh studio album, “Lover.” This record is huge.

I love Swift, and that’s coming from listener/critic who wasn’t always on-board with her fame. She has evolved and grown with each album. It’s exciting to see where she’ll go next.

“Lover” features 18 quality tracks and is her first release on Republic Records, since parting from Big Machine. Eighteen tracks? Who does this anymore, especially in the digital world? Swift is not afraid of hard work.

“Lover,” the album, makes me happy for her. She’s in a good place, personally and musically. What a treat for fans. She’s light-hearted again, breezy and wanting to have some fun, while still managing to tackle some social truths.

The album’s first single, “Me,” features Brendon Urie from Panic! At The Disco. The song and video showcased the fun side that emerged from her previous album, “Reputation.”

“Me” had its debut at the Billboard Music Awards. The song quickly rose up the charts, adding to speculation about what was to come. She uses social media better than most music artists.

“You Need To Calm Down” could not have been better. This song is awesome and, frankly, needed to be said. She cleverly frames the lyrics, “You just need to take several seats/And then try to make peace/And control your urges to scream/’Cause shade never made anybody less gay.”

I wouldn’t call this album revolutionary like “1989” was, but this one is more evolutionary. She has grown more as a person and the songs on this collection aren’t confined to a single motive, but more like individual thoughts or feelings.

The title track is, by far, the standout. It is such a beautiful song and she does it so well and with incredible style and class. It’s gorgeous. This track could clean house come awards season. It’s that good. Swift delivers this love song like no other we’ve ever heard from her. The lyrics are pure and completely from the heart of someone who knows what it means to have that someone, a lover. It’s one of the finest new songs this year.